| Wednesday, April 18, 2007 |
| An organiser's review of the Campbell University concert on 4/13/07 |
Below is Thomas Parker's review of the Campbell show, exclusively for switchFeed (thanks Tommy!) - 'tis good to hear from an organiser, with some more backstage glimpses than your usual review. Enjoy!
April 13th 2007 was a culmination of 6 months worth of preparation – all beginning back in the fall semester when our Campus Activities Board’s Concert Committee agreed to pursue Switchfoot as our spring concert headliner. We had various artists and bands to sift through and choose from, but Switchfoot made sense for more than just the obvious reasons. Because we didn’t get the contract officially signed until early February, our time was short and there was so much to accomplish in two remaining months. The whole process was exciting, but especially stressful for me – mainly due to my longtime love for these guys and all that they do. I wanted everything to be perfect; every small detail seemed to be of amplified concern.
On the Thursday before the show, me, Lance (our CAB graduate assistant and close friend of mine), and Dusty (the committee chair) spent the morning and afternoon shopping for and picking up the remaining things we needed to complete the dressing room requirements and specialties that we planned to include. The rest of that night was consumed by cleaning up and furnishing the bare apartment home that was to house the band the next day. The fridge was stocked, and the living area was decorated with surfing magazines and posters, Switchfoot towels, Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero, and of course Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. It seemed fitting that my official job was “hospitality”, so I was especially enthused and also concerned about the final product. My good friends and fellow Footsoldiers, Erica Gardner and Vicki Chiri made long journeys to make it into town that night. We stayed up late talking about all sorts of things, mostly Switchfoot related and other chatter concerning the next day’s happenings. I finally went to bed around 3:30am.
Friday finally came. The morning was spent adding a few final items to the dressing room, checking on the ticket operations, and then preparing for the big bus arrival. The guys rolled in around noon. First, their driver got off and chatted a bit, then the tour manager, Guy. Jerome came off and inquired about feeding his coffee addiction, so our runner gave him a lift to a little place on the other side of campus. Jon came out and said hello to everyone, then grabbed a couple books and took off for a walk around campus. Tim came and said hello and thanked me for having them, to which I thanked him for coming (which seemed much more appropriate). He then prepared for a jog, while Chad was helping with the load in. A little later, Lance and I took Drew and Guy to the dressing room. This was one of the best parts of the day. I was anxious to see how they would react when they saw everything we had for them inside. Thankfully, they were blown away with the towels we had made, the Guitar Hero and DVDs, as well as the abundance of requested food and drinks in the kitchen. Immediately, Guy radioed to the bus, enthusiastically telling the crew of the great facility. Drew called Chad to tell him about the surfing magazines, then told me he was stoked and on his way over soon. It was amazing to see all of their faces when they came into the room. The guys have always been so gracious, but I was able to experience that even more directly on this day. They continually thanked me for everything – shedding the few remaining layers of “celebrity” that I viewed them with. They seemed so much more like friends, and always genuine.
At this point in the day things were starting to come together. Dusty informed me that Dan (SF’s current merch guy) needed some assistance. I went over to the bus to see what was up. This was Dan’s first show doing merch, so he had to re-sort all of the t-shirts into bins with the correct counts etc. I called Erica and Vicky and they came to help out. So at this point, I would just like to thank Erica, Vicky, Paige (Erica’s younger sister), and all of the other F-soldiers who helped out. Sometimes helping with merch doesn’t involve a whole lot, but today was a completely different story. These girls worked hard all day assisting Dan, and for that I am very grateful. After getting them squared away with Dan, I went to help a few committee members set up tables for tickets, merch, and concessions.
Jon, Tim and Romey all filtered back to the dressing room from their various afternoon ventures. After another loud stir in the dressing room over the Guitar Hero and other amenities, the guys had a long band meeting in the back room. I don’t think I heard a sound from them for over an hour, even when we stepped in to drop off their food orders. Then, around 4pm they moved toward the stage for sound check. Jon stopped to say a few words to one of my best friends who was standing around the fence behind the stage. It was nice because Bryan (my friend) had won a VIP contest we had a few weeks earlier, Jon hadn’t known that at the time, nor did he know he was my friend. Sound check was fun. I can’t remember everything they played, but I believe it included “Yesterdays” and “4:12”, both not on the set list. After sound check, Drew and Andy played Frisbee in the yard outside the dressing room (see the Daily Foot for a great picture). Then I had to guide Romey around campus via Drew’s phone. Our security worker had given him false directions to a Wi-Fi location. After watching Andy (Barron) absolutely destroyed my Guitar Hero game (he started a new career called “The Switchfeets” and unlocked all sorts of songs, characters, and guitars), he also inquired about getting to some Wi-Fi. I drove him over to a dorm lobby across the street so he could catch up on watching “Lost”. At this point we had just started letting people in the gate, and the local opening band was about to begin.
I spent the first hour and a half of the show running back and forth checking on things – everything seemed to be going great. I went back to the dressing room one last time to wish the guys good luck. They all thanked me for everything again. On my way to the stage I saw Jon walking back to the dressing room. I told him good luck as well, and that I was on my way to get a good spot down front. I squeezed up there front and center with Vicky, Erica and Luke. I caught the second half of Reeve Oliver’s set. They were amazing, great guys, musicians and fantastic entertainers. Seriously folks, if you haven’t check out RO yet, you need to! They exited the stage with most of the crowd asking for another song – they were worth an encore.
The set change was relatively short. I had a few conversations with our security workers (fellow students) about photography privileges, and what to do when Jon entered the crowd. Then, the lights when down and the cheers went up – that moment of pure excitement that we all know so well. They opened with “Stars”, then “Politicians” (see the Daily Foot for the full set list).
After “Learning to Breathe”, Jon starting chatting with the crowd. Then, he said “I want to thank my friend down front here for his amazing hospitality”. At this point my friends near by knew what was up, and started yelling my name. Then Jon said “Yeah, Tommy why don’t you come up here for a minute”. So, I hopped up on stage and gave Jon a little hug. He told the crowd that I was the reason they were here tonight. I was flattered to say the least, but I had to quickly reply that there were many people responsible for it, and I couldn’t take all of the credit. Regardless, it was one of the most fulfilling experiences to have him recognize me like that. Then he asked me to introduce the rest of the guys. So, I went through and announced them all. I can’t remember exactly what I said, I think I made up some nicknames – mostly, I was just trying not to forget anyone. Then Jon gave me a little hug, but before I exited the stage I wished a friend of mine a Happy Birthday. This was especially funny because he had started a Facebook event page – trying to play it off like his birthday party was the SF concert, as if they had come to play for him. Jon adapted well, as he always does and they sung happy birthday for him. Needless to say, he was ecstatic when he found me afterwards.
The rest of the show was amazing. The set list was great (so glad it included Faust). During “Shadow”, Jon took off through the crowd towards the sound board. The security guys in the front just stood there, so I yelled to them to follow him. He sung the whole song up there, as well as the beginning of “Awakening”. At the end of “M2L” he climbed the huge stage rafter. Basically, the guys were on top of their game and put on a wonderful show for everyone.
After the encore, they got cleaned up on the bus for a few minutes before coming out to sign autographs and meet people. Jon came out smiling at me; I thanked him again for everything and pointed him towards the massive crowd of picture hungry college students. They were all so great – staying out to talk to people for what seemed like an hour or more. We took a great picture of Jon in a Campbell t-shirt that we got for both bands – we’re planning to hang it up in the bookstore on campus. I walked each of the guys back to the bus and thanked them again for coming. Tim was so kind; he thanked me over and over for having them. Romey was the last to board the bus, I wished him well in Knoxville and said goodbye. I had never been more tired in my entire life. My legs and back ached and I hadn’t eaten anything since 3pm. None of that really mattered at the time. It was such a wonderful day.
There was a lot that took place in order to make it all happen. The process was extensive to say the least, but it was more than worth it to bring the pure joy that is “Switchfoot” to my peers and local community. Everyone I’ve talked to since has said nothing but good things about the show. Nothing short of what I anticipated – the guys were genuine, gracious and amazing entertainers. I hope this marks the beginning to a new season of supporting all of the remarkable things that Switchfoot is all about. I love you guys, thanks so much!
-Tommy aka tparker
Also check out Luke Sharett's (our resident-photographer-in-waiting, 'cause we haven't yet worked out how to integrate his work into the site) pictures from the same show. He's pro and just amazingly talented. Click here.Labels: concert reviews. |
posted by phil @ 3:58 AM  
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| 18 Comments: |
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Bravo for all your hard work organizing this and anyone else who shared with the work. Simply amazing. Would loved to have been there but maybe another one some day. Thanks for your review. You can take a deep sigh of relief now. You all did a great job.....appreciated and enjoyed by many, I am sure! :)
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I don't even know what to say. It was amazing. The whole thing. Not one part of the night could be criticized. I wish I could go back and re-live it! :D :D
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Glad to finally hear your side of the story Tommy! It's awesome that they appreciated your dressing room so much. Hard work pays off. :)
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Tommy, wonderful review, I really enjoyed reading it..sounds like it was an awesome experience. :)
love that picture of Jon, hahah.
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ha Tommy,
that's amazing! and yeah, I dig the shirt too!
I'm glad you got the opportunity to do that, and I'm glad it paid off and that you had such a good time.
For all the work you did, you deserved it I think.
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That is one of the best articles I've read on SF in a while. I'm so glad you had such an awesome experience! I hope I get to meet them too someday.
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wow great article. one question though, who is Romey? this is confusing me...
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Romey = Jerome
Thanks for all the compliments guys and gals!
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tommy, you did a great job! both in organizing the concert and writing the review. thanks for sharing your experience with us!!
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nice, Tommy.
p.s. Phil, organiZer...hehe, just giving you a hard time.
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Fun fuuuunnnnnnn!!!! Thanks t-peezy haha
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Tommy, Erica, Paige, me and Switchfoot.. reunited August 24th! Haha Yayyy!!
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Ack! a ten hour drive!!! How am I gonna pull this off? I dont think my car will make it hahaha
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Nice review, Parker. Long, but nice. Great picture.
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Phil, you changed the quote hanger? I didn't misquote?
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that's awesome. I love reading stuff about the guys that just shows how genuine they are. I'm glad it all went so well!
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i must say you did an awesommme job getting the show worked out... my first SF show ever, & it was everything i had hoped for & more!!!! :) thanks for the pic link, btw... i tried to get some myself but being 5'1" made it hard to see, much less take pics... now i can see what i missed!! :)
btw, jon + campbell shirt = awesommmeness!!
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this review has caused me to be jealous of you, tommy, which is a sin.
thank you for causing me to stumble.
if they hang that pic up, they might actually sell some shirts!
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Bravo for all your hard work organizing this and anyone else who shared with the work. Simply amazing. Would loved to have been there but maybe another one some day. Thanks for your review. You can take a deep sigh of relief now. You all did a great job.....appreciated and enjoyed by many, I am sure! :)